| Boody Public School Building | |||||||||
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| Submitted by Dennis Downey | |||||||||
| Boody Public School Building |
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| Sumbitted by Dennis Downey |
The History of Boody High School
Boody (population 156) is located in central Illinois in the southwest portion of Macon County. The town is located on Illinois Route 48 about five miles southwest of Decatur. The Norfolk Southern Railroad travels parallel to Route 48 and travels through Boody as well.
A nice history of the town of Boody can be viewed at the webaddress of http://macon.ilgenweb.net/blmound.html . In summary, the article states the following:
Boody was established along the Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific Railway in eastern Blue Mound Township. The town was platted in 1870 and named after Colonel William Boody, president of the railway. After the town was established, a post office and several businesses soon followed.The first school in the town of Boody was established in 1872.
The history of the high school that was eventually established in Boody is in need of research. Joe Crump gives us some information on Boody schools and the former high school below. Our guess is that Boody High School was established in the late 1800s to early 1900s. It is probable that Boody High School lasted into the 1940s, possibly even the 1950s.
We know at some point Boody High School consolidated with nearby Blue Mound High School to create the Blue Mound – Boody School District. Boody kids continued to attend high school in Blue Mound until 1994, when that school, too, was closed. Students who reside in Boody today attend high school in Macon as part of the Meridan School District.
A school building still exists in Boody, however it is no longer used in that capacity. Joe Crump tells us the original Boody High School building was destroyed by fire in the early 1960s. A replacement was constructed. This school would later serve as East Park Baptist Academy from 1976 – 1989.
Thank you to Joe Crump!
Boody High School Quick Facts
Year opened: late 1800s/early 1900s
Year closed: 1950s?
Consolidated to: Blue Mound – Boody High School
Boody HS nickname: the “Bullets”
Boody HS team colors: unavailable
Boody HS fight song: unavailable
| AthleticsThe Boody High School Bullets competed in boys basketball. It is possible that baseball and track were a part of the athletic program as well. If you have any further information on Boody High School’s athletic program, including the team uniform colors, school fight song, coaches names, and season records please forward them to us.
Extra-Curricular Activities Activities such as plays, chorus, band, FFA, FHA, and any other activities are af great interest. What was it that made the Boody High School experience a great one? Drop us a line and let us know so we can share it on this page. Memories From Boody resident Joe Crump: “I have been a life long resident of the town of Boody (except for when I was in the Navy). The question was asked in the Blue Mound High School writeup as to whether Boody ever had a high school. In fact, it had two at two different times. I started going to school there in 1967 and at that time it was grades K-5. The junior high and high school kids were bussed to Blue Mound. We did at one time have a high school there though, before the consolidation with Blue Mound took place. Grades K – 12 were all in the same building. The basketball team was called the Boody Bullets. I don’t know when the school was built, buit I do know that in the late 60’s it burned down, and it was rebuilt. Sometime in the 1970’s, the school was sold and all of the kids went to Blue Mound. A private school called East Park Baptist used the school as a private school with grades K – 12 for a number of years. The high school kids there used to come to Blue Mound HS for their drivers ed classes. I know this because some of them were in my drivers ed class. The Baptists sold the school in the late 80’s and it was bought by a person that wanted to turn it into a bingo hall. That didn’t go over so well here in Boody and after a year or two of that it closed down. Now the school sits empty and is pretty run down.” From Helen “Smith” Estes: “I started at Boody School in 1945. At that time there were two class rooms on the main floor. The upstairs was an auditorium and stage. The one room had 1st thru 4th grade and Lillian Knowles was the teacher/principal. The other room was 5th thru 8th grade and I believe Mrs. Pumphrey was the teacher. After a year or two they turned the upstairs into two more classrooms and then there were two grades per room. Also, after a couple of years, Mrs. Lorton and Mary Beckham started cooking hot lunches for us and they made a lunch room in the basement. There was a two story wooden school house first a little farther back from the two story brick one. The first one was built in 1874 and the new brick one was built in 1912, at that time they tore the wooden one down.” If You Have Any Further Information… …you can provide regarding Boody High School before its consolidation with Blue Mound High School, especially stories and photos of the original high school building, great teams, athletes, and coaches, you can e-mail them to us at ihsgdwebsite@comcast.net. You can also write to us at: Illinois HS Glory Days 6439 N. Neva St. Chicago, Il. 60631 |
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